47 articles - From Saturday Feb 05 2022 to Friday Feb 11 2022
Guidelines, position statements, white papers, technical reviews, consensus statements, etc…
meta-analyses and systematic reviews
RCT, clinical trials, retrospective studies, etc…
| Ann Rheum Dis |
Anti-RNP antibodies are associated with the interferon gene signature but not decreased complement levels in SLE. There is a complex relationship between autoantibodies and the IGS, with anti-RNP associated in AA and both anti-dsDNA and RNP associated in EA. Moreover, there was a difference in the relationship between anti-dsDNA, but not anti-RBP, with complement levels. The lack of a relationship of anti-RNP with C3 and C4 suggests that anti-RNP immune complexes (ICs) may drive the IGS without complement fixation, whereas anti-dsDNA ICs involve complement consumption. |
Distinct impact of DMARD combination and monotherapy in immunogenicity of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in rheumatoid arthritis. Patients with RA under DMARD have a moderate immunogenicity to CoronaVac. We identified that nearly al DMARD combinations have a deleterious effect in immunogenicity, whereas a more restricted number of drugs (methotrexate/tofacitinib/abatacept/tocilizumab) also hampered this response as monotherapy. These findings reinforce the need of a broader approach, not limited to specific drugs, to improve vaccine response for this population. Trial registration details NCT04754698. |
Postvaccination antibody titres predict protection against COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases: survival analysis in a prospective cohort. Breakthrough infections occurred in 7.4% of patients and were associated with seronegativity following vaccination. This provides a basis for exploring postvaccination antibody titres as a biomarker in patients with AIRD. |
| Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) |
Implementing a Treat-to-Target Approach for Rheumatoid Arthritis During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a Virtual Learning Collaborative Program. Implementation of TTT for RA can be improved through a relatively low-cost virtual LC. This improvement in TTT implementation was observed despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but we did observe differences in TTT adherence between in-person visits and virtual visits. |
| Arthritis Res Ther |
Cytokine signatures differentiate systemic sclerosis patients at high versus low risk for pulmonary arterial hypertension. These data suggest that cytokine profiles can distinguish SSc patients who are at high-risk for or have PAH from SSc patients who may be at lower risk for PAH and HC. However, high-risk and PAH patients had very similar cytokine profiles, suggesting that these patients are on a disease continuum. |
Development of a convolutional neural network for the identification and the measurement of the median nerve on ultrasound images acquired at carpal tunnel level. The developed algorithm has shown excellent performances, especially if excluding anatomical variants. Future research should aim at expanding the US image dataset including a wider spectrum of normal anatomy and pathology. This deep learning approach has shown very high potentiality for a fully automatic support for US assessment of carpal tunnel syndrome. |
N6-methyladenosine-dependent modification of circGARS acts as a new player that promotes SLE progression through the NF- The circGARS sponges miR-19a to regulate YTHDF2 expression to promote SLE progression through the A20/NF- |
Time to response for clinical and patient-reported outcomes in patients with psoriatic arthritis treated with tofacitinib, adalimumab, or placebo. This analysis demonstrates tofacitinib's efficacy on most patient-reported and clinical endpoints over time and shows a shorter time to initial, clinically meaningful response in patients receiving tofacitinib vs patients switching from placebo to tofacitinib. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT01877668. Registered June 12, 2013. ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT01882439. Registered June 18, 2013. |
Ultrasound-guided lymph node biopsy sampling to study the immunopathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis: a well-tolerated valuable research tool. Ultrasound-guided inguinal LN biopsy sampling is well-tolerated, safe, and provides sufficient material for further molecular and cellular analyses. Our participants' positive experiences endorse the application of this research tool to further elucidate the pathogenesis of RA and other inflammatory diseases. |
| Arthritis Rheumatol |
American College of Rheumatology Clinical Guidance for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated With SARS-CoV-2 and Hyperinflammation in Pediatric COVID-19: Version 3. Our understanding of SARS-CoV-2-related syndromes in the pediatric population continues to evolve. This guidance document reflects currently available evidence coupled with expert opinion, and will be revised as further evidence becomes available. |
Associations of body mass index with pain and the mediating role of inflammatory biomarkers in hand osteoarthritis: Results from the Nor-Hand study. In people with hand osteoarthritis, higher BMI was associated with greater pain severity in hands, feet and knees/hips. Systemic effects of obesity, measured by leptin, may play a larger mediating role for pain in hands than in lower extremities. Low-grade inflammation, measured by hs-CRP, may contribute to generalized pain in overweight/obese individuals. |
Epigenetic Regulation of Nutrient Transporters in Rheumatoid Arthritis Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes. This study demonstrates that changes in the epigenetic landscape of genes related to nutrient transporters and metabolic pathways identify RA-specific targets, including critical SLC transporters, enzymes, and transcription factors, to develop novel therapeutic agents. |
Identification of mitofusin 1 and complement component 1q subcomponent-binding protein as mitochondrial targets in systemic lupus erythematosus. This study presents the mitochondrial repertoire targeted in SLE, indicating that autoantibodies can recognize secreted and/or surface proteins of mitochondrial origin. Profiling of the AMA repertoire in large prospective cohorts may improve our knowledge on mitochondrial biomarkers and their usefulness for patient stratification. |
| Rheumatology (Oxford) |
Do patient-reported measures of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis vary between countries? Results from a Nordic collaboration. Inter-country differences in TJC, pain and PGA are greater than expected based on differences in objective measures, but have a small clinical impact on DAS28-CRP across countries. |
Effectiveness of baricitinib and tofacitinib compared to bDMARDs in RA: results from a cohort study using nationwide Swedish register data. Baricitinib and tofacitinib showed at least equivalent effectiveness compared with bDMARDs after exploring several different effectiveness measures. |
Gastroparesis in Systemic Sclerosis: A Detailed Analysis Using Whole-Gut Scintigraphy. Gastric emptying of liquids when given alongside solids may be more sensitive and provide a more clinically relevant measure of gastroparesis in SSc. SSc patients with gastroparesis frequently have dysmotility in other areas of the GI tract, underscoring the need for whole-gut scintigraphy to evaluate the entire gut. |
Gender- and Age-Specific Rates of Heart Failure and other Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes in Systemic Sclerosis. SSc was associated with higher rates of HF and other cardiovascular outcomes than matched controls, irrespective of gender and age. Among patients with new-onset HF, a history of SSc was associated with higher mortality. |
Gene signature fingerprints stratify SLE patients in groups with similar biological disease profiles: a multicenter longitudinal study. The identified gene signatures are associated with disease activity and suitable tools to stratify SLE patients into groups with similar activated immune pathways that may guide future treatment choices. |
Humoral and Cellular Response to COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients with Autoimmune Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases under Real-life Conditions. COVID-19 vaccination in patients with AIIRD is effective using any approved vaccine. Humoral response might be impaired depending on the individual immunosuppressive medication. The risk of non-response is highest under rituximab therapy. Anti-S IgG antibody levels wane over time after mRNA vaccination. Importantly, 50% of humoral non-responders showed a T cellular response, suggesting T cell-mediated protection to a certain extent. |
Implementation of the OMERACT Psoriatic Arthritis Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scoring System in a randomized phase IIb study of abatacept in psoriatic arthritis. Adults with PsA receiving ABA10 and ABA30/10 demonstrated significant resolution of inflammatory components of disease, confirmed by MRI, with synovitis and tenosynovitis improvements consistent with previously reported clinical responses for these doses. Results indicate that reduction in OMERACT PsAMRIS inflammation scores may provide proof of tissue-level efficacy in PsA clinical trials. Clinicaltrials.gov registration ClinicalTrials.gov, https //clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00534313. |
Myocardial fibrosis and arrhythmic burden in systemic sclerosis. In SSc patients without evidence of overt cardiac disease, a high burden of myocardial fibrosis and arrhythmias was identified. However, there was no clear association between focal or diffuse myocardial fibrosis and arrhythmias, suggesting CMR may have limited use as a screening tool to identify SSc patients at risk of future significant arrhythmias. |
Non-criteria manifestations in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in a paediatric cohort. Non-criteria manifestations were more frequent than TEs. A positive family history of autoimmune diseases and the absence of TEs were associated with a higher risk of developing non-criteria manifestations. Therefore, their inclusion as APS classification criteria should be considered in order to get an improved prognosis in the paediatric population. |
Predictors of Rituximab Effect on Modified Rodnan Skin Score in Systemic Sclerosis: a machine learning analysis of the DESIRES trial. Systemic sclerosis patients who have high CD19-positive cell counts and high mRSS expected greater improvement in mRSS with rituximab. When the patients with high CD19-positive cell counts showed low mRSS, serum SP-D levels may modify the treatment effect. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, https //clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04274257 and UMIN-CTR, https //center6.umin.ac.jp, UMIN000030139. |
Prevalence of frailty in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica and association with health-related quality of life, cognition and sarcopenia. In this cohort of PMR patients, there was a higher prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty compared with that reported in community-dwelling elderly. Frailty was associated with worse physical function and increased pain behaviour and pain interference, differences that were also clinically meaningful. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and analyze the association of frailty with other PMR disease outcomes. |
Prospective epidemiological study of juvenile-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The minimum UK and ROI incidence of JSLE is between 0.36 and 0.46/100 |
Selection of treatment regimens based on shared decision-making in patients with rheumatoid arthritis on remission in the FREE-J study. After achieving sustained remission by combination treatment of MTX/bDMARDs, disease control was achieved comparably by continuation, dose-reduction or discontinuation of MTX and dose-reduction of bDMARD at end of year 1. Subsequent de-escalation of MTX had no impacts on disease control but decreased adverse events in year 2. |
Plenty of the editorials are available as full text through the publisher website using the provided link
| Ann Rheum Dis |
| Arthritis Rheumatol |
Safety and Efficacy of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Other Cellular Therapeutics in Rheumatic Diseases in 2022: A review of what we know so far. Expansion of autologous T regulatory cells is an attractive approach to controlling autoimmunity. There are a number of other regulatory cells in the immune system including regulatory B cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, and other T cell types that are early in development. In this review, the current evidence for efficacy and mechanisms of actions of cellular therapies already in use or in clinical trials in human autoimmune diseases will be discussed including limitations of these therapies and potential side effects. |
Letters to the editors and authors’ replies
| Ann Rheum Dis |
| Arthritis Rheumatol |
all remaining publications eg case reports, images of the month, etc…
| Ann Rheum Dis |
| Arthritis Rheumatol |
| Rheumatology (Oxford) |